Friday, August 11, 2006

Pope Benedict will send a special envoy to Lebanon to lead prayers for peace, the Vatican said today.

The Pope has asked Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, head of the Vatican council for peace and justice, who was often a special envoy for the late Pope John Paul, "to transmit to the suffering population...his spiritual proximity and real solidarity".

The Pontiff has voiced frustration that his repeated calls on Israel and Hizbollah to stop the fighting that erupted last month after Hizbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers have fallen on deaf ears.

The French cardinal's mission is "essentially religious" and he will try to celebrate Mass on Sunday with the patriarch of Lebanon's Maronite church, the Vatican said in a statement. - Reuters